Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Takes $319,000 Position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 3,895 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $319,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Values First Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Atala Financial Inc acquired a new position in MetLife during the fourth quarter worth approximately $45,000. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on MetLife in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on MetLife from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Barclays lowered their price target on MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on MetLife from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.58.

MetLife Stock Down 0.5 %

NYSE MET opened at $82.33 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $83.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $82.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $67.30 and a fifty-two week high of $89.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.09 billion, a PE ratio of 13.79, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.04.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by ($0.05). MetLife had a net margin of 6.19% and a return on equity of 20.42%. Equities analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th were paid a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife’s payout ratio is 36.52%.

About MetLife

MetLife, Inc, a financial services company, provides insurance, annuities, employee benefits, and asset management services worldwide. It operates through six segments: Retirement and Income Solutions; Group Benefits; Asia; Latin America; Europe, the Middle East and Africa; and MetLife Holdings. The company offers life, dental, group short-and long-term disability, individual disability, pet insurance, accidental death and dismemberment, vision, and accident and health coverages, as well as prepaid legal plans; administrative services-only arrangements to employers; and general and separate account, and synthetic guaranteed interest contracts, as well as private floating rate funding agreements.